Fleck 5600 vs 5800/5810

[Mrbrady3324]

We recently bought a 100 year old home in Evanston, IL. The home is fitted with a 3/4". We are a family of 3 (hopefully 4 in the future) with 2 dogs. The house has 3.5 bathrooms. Water is hard (8-10ppm) and we would like to address that with a water softener. We are renovating our kitchen so we figure this is a good time to do it.

I have been doing a lot of research and most recommendations lead back to the 5600 however I have seen a lot of references to the 58xx series. Is the 58xx series the way to go? If so, does anyone have dealer recommendations (I have a plumber to install)?

 

[Reach4]

5600 can be electromechanical Econominder or 5600SXT. It is 3/4. Fills brine tank with unsoftened water, but that is OK. Not as good as softened, but a small difference with your 7.5 grain water. This is much quieter when it operates, so is not likely to startle you. Older proven design.


5800 is 3/4 usually 5800SXT but there is a fancier XTR* and dumbed-down, less flexible, LXT version.
5810 is 1 inch, but can be adapted down externally. It has some more advanced design than the 5800 units. All 58** units fill the brine tank with softened water.

I like the SXT controller for some reasons. XTR2 might be good if you need one of the extra features, but it is harder to describe to somebody what settings to use.

You will want a 10x54 tank with 1.5 cuft of resin. This may be called a "48000 grain" softener, but do not use that number for any calculations.

 

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[Reader90]

I have 58xx XTR2 and SXT versions of the Fleck valve. I am extremely happy with both valves. To other points on this forum, source from a reputable dealer that use good parts and tanks. Go with 10% cross linked resin. I have a whole house carbon filter to remove my municipal water chlorine.

I also have a softener/carbon system based on the Clack WS1 valve. Very good solution as well.

I prefer the Fleck for programing, either the XTR2 or SXT, while different programing, are not to difficult to understand, IMO.

I also use Rescare every month or two for maintenance of the resin. I test my water with a Hach-B test kit monthly. My systems operate like they did day 1.